Movieline - November 1995

Out Of Action - Heidi Parker

Yancy Butler can take a slap without flinching and a kick without crying -
that's what she learned during her first few years in Hollywood, when she starred
opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in Hard Target and Wesley Snipes in Drop
Zone. Why did she take the abuse? "To not take risks is death," says Butler.
"As much as I might get burned, I gotta get out there and I gotta live." Forgiving
the philosophical tone she gives to the activity of playing "the girl" in B
action movies, one might admith this is not a bad motto for a 24-year-old who
hopes to take on Tinseltown. "I want to get away from being an action woman
because you can't go on kicking forever," she says, by way of explaining her
new role opposite Campbell Scott and Patrick Stewart in Let It Be Me,
a drama about ballroom-dancing instructors. What's her dream role, career-strategizing
aside? "I'd love play a wildcat, a crazy woman like Lena Olin in Romeo Is
Bleeding." Would she ever worry that the audience might start associating
her with her roles, a la Sean Young? "No. People think if a woman's strong,
she's a little crazy. Sure, I'm a little crazy. But you can't take what people
in Hollywood say too seriously."